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Follow TURFLawmakers want to raise taxes to pay for roads
Link to article here.
Note there is no push to end diversions of the gas tax for non-road uses, nor to dedicate vehicle sales taxes to roads (which is currently being dumped into general revenue and pays for general government services), the only 'solutions' being considered are tax increases, even a tax on debt service!
Texas lawmakers push for tax reform in 2013
APRIL CASTRO, Associated Press
Published 06:55 p.m., Tuesday, November 8, 2011
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Legislative leaders warned Tuesday of a bleak future for Texas roads, water supplies and other basic needs if steps aren't taken to ensure the state has the money to maintain them.
Tax reform is expected to be a major yet contentious issue for the 2013 Legislature. A House committee started work on the issue last week with a meeting to study the effectiveness of the state's tax structure and various exemptions in the law. Challenges to the business tax and school funding plan have already been filed in court.
Speaking to a meeting of a tax policy association, Republican Sen. Tommy Williams implored the group to "have an honest look in the mirror about" the challenges and tough choices the Legislature faces. The state is running out of money and options to build new roads and maintain existing ones, he said. The state's water management plan also is without a long-term funding source.
Any increase in taxes will face ardent resistance from fiscal conservatives.
"I ask for your help in having an honest conversation with the public ... about the infrastructure needs of our state," Williams said. Otherwise, he said, the future won't be "rosy" for future generations.
Republican Sen. Steve Ogden, who led the Senate's budget-writing efforts, suggested the state let the voters decide about new taxes through a series of constitutional amendment propositions to override a ban on certain types of taxes at the state level.
"In the areas of school finance, in the area of the state business tax, in the area of highway funding, we need to let the people tell us what they want," Ogden said. "It's not important whether they say yes or no, what's important is that they answer the question."
For schools, he suggested scrapping the current school finance system and replacing it with a statewide property tax to eliminate disparities in levels of funding across districts.
For new highways, he suggested a new tax on debt service to pay off road bonds.
If voters reject it, "their answer is 'we like the roads the way they are,'" Ogden said. "So quit complaining about traffic."
The state's business tax, which was adopted in 2006 under a court order to fix the school finance system, has yet to meet revenue projections.
"We've got basically a ... poor state business tax now because we believe that the constitution prohibits us from levying an income tax on the income of limited liability partnerships," Ogden said. "We ought to ask the people of Texas if they'd like to scrap the current franchise tax and allow us to levy an income tax on all businesses that receive some sort of legal protection from the state of Texas.
"And their answer ... whatever the answer is, it will give the Legislature guidance."